Mattress extenders



Nov. 8, 1960 w. M. EMERY MATTRESS EXTENDERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 29, 1958 FIG. 3

FIG. 2

INV ENTOR.

Nov. s, 1960 W. M. EMERY MATTRESS EXTENDERS Filed July 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6

States Patent Oiice 2,958,874 Patented Nov. 8, 1960 MATTRESS EXTENDERS William M. Emery, 44 Pillsford Way, New Providence, NJ.

Filed July 29, 1958, Ser. No. 751,796

s claims. (cl. -34s) My present invention, like my previous application #697,204, refers to Mattress Extendersl to bring comfort to taller than average people.

In addition to the general purposes set forth in my previous application, the specific purposes of my present invention includes separately and in combination (1) to provide an extender the maximum height of which can be varied according to the thickness of the mattress such as from 4 inches to 9 inches; (2) to accomplish this object while maintaining substantially the same springy resiliency at all heights so that at maximum extension it will be strong enough to support the sleepers head or feet and yet will not be so sti and rigid when compressed for a thin mattress that it will not give with the mattress and be uncomfortable; (3) to provide novel, light-weight and inexpensive means to resist longitudinal and transverse movement of the top of said extender relative to the supporting base thereof without interfering with its up and down movement; (4) to combine a very compressible structure, with pivotally folding supports to allow shipment within parcel post size regulations and also thereby to avoid a flat, thin package which is more easily damaged in mailing; and other objects such as plywood reinforcing and manufacturing simplification will be apparent from the following specifications, claims and drawings in which:

Fig. l is an isometric view showing my extender positioned in a conventional bed; v

Fig. 2 is a View in elevation with only the covering and legs in section showing the extender expanded to its full height;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an isometric view similar to Fig. 3 but without any outer covering;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but compressed to a lower than maximum height for a thinner mattress;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view like on line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the extender, and

Fig. 8 is an exploded view of Fig. 4.

In Fig. l is shown, in dot-dash lines, a conventional Hollywood bed 10 with one form of my invention 11 supported in place at one end of mattress 12 above boxsprings 13 by means of slats or horizontal legs 14 and 14' inserted between the mattress 12 and springs 13.

As also shown in Figs. 2 and 5 my invention is covered with a exible sheeting 15 of cotton, plastic or other material and topped by foam material or other conventional padding 16.

Figs. 2, 4 and 8 show the internal parts as follows: a plywood topping and a plywood base 21 interconnected by a pair or identical sub-assemblies 22 and 22 consisting of a piece of die-cut extra-strong corrugated board 23 including an upper section 24 stapled to plywood topping 20, two toggel sections 25 and 26 and a lower section 27 stapled to plywood base 21. Said sections being made of one piece of corrugated board hinged by creasing at 28, 29 and 30. Included in sub-assembly 22 is hour glass bed spring 31, stapled to upper section 24 and lower section 27, and also included is strap 32 stapled to the upper section 24. Also attached to base 21 is a short strap and buckle 33 and legs 14 and 14 are attached by means of bolts 34 passing through base 21 and lower section 27 and held by sheet steel nuts 35.

Operatively joining the pair of identical sub-assembly 22 and 22 and particularly the oppositely positioned toggle sections in each sub-assembly is a pair of extension springs 40 and 40 (see Fig. 8) joined by strings 41 and 41' acting on the toggel plane sections at crease 29 of each and tending to straighten said toggel thereby developing a separating resilient thrust between plywood pieces 20 and 21 magnified by a mechanical advantage which varies toward the iniinite when the toggle straightens and toward nothing when where the toggel is completely collapsed following a sine curve function.

In order to prevent springs 40 and 40 from completely straightening toggle sections 25 and 26 or from reversing their angle, two similarly folded corrugated board stops 42 and 42', shaped on their outer edges to substantially conform with the normal folds of sections 25 and 26 when they are extended as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, are stapled to the plywood top 20 and base 21 adjacent to sections 25 and 26 to place a limit on the relative straightness of said toggel planes 25 and 26..

It should also be noted that stops 42 and 42 being hinged on axes longitudinally of plywood 20 `and 21 tend to resist longitudinal relative motion there between without interferingwith relative vertical motions. Likewise, hinges 28, 29 and 30 of 23 being positioned transversely of the plywood top and base 20 and 21 with toggle panels 25 and 26 also being in transverse planes, said toggels tend to materially resist any transverse relative movement of 20 and 21 but do not interfere with relative vertical motion.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the outer covering 15 is relatively taut although maximum separation of plywood pieces 20 and 21 are limited primarily by stops 42 and 42 acting against 25 and 26 in sub-assemblies 22 and 22'; whereas in Figs. 5 and 6covering 15 is loose, springs 31 are compressed, toggels 25-26 are more flexed and separated from stops 42 and 42', because straps 32 have been buckled and tightened so that 20 and 21 are drawn together thereby establishing a less than maximum height for the extender thereby making it suitable for use with a thinner mattress. Straps 32 can be tightened until springs 31 are almost completely compressed and the faces of toggel sections 25 and 26 are near contact also the equivalent faces of stops 42 and 42 are near contact.

When in this manner the extender is compressed to say 4" for a foam rubber mattress, the straps limit the maximum height of each end of the extender but either or both ends may be further compressed so that the extender can still give with the mattress under the weight of the extremities of the sleeper or sleepers.

Now normally the resistance of a cylindrical compression spring to its compression varies in a straight line function directly in proportion to its distortion according to Hookes law, therefore, if spring 31 were a cylindrical spring of uniform pitch diameter, the more it was compressed the greater would be its resistance to further compression. However, a cylindrical spring cannot be compressed as flat as an hour glass bed spring. Unfortunately the resistance to compression of a bedspring increases much more rapidly than a straight line function as it is compressed, so that if my invention were dependent on bed springs, it either would be too weak when fully extended or too stiii` when compressed for a thin mattress.

To compensate for this condition my invention combines with bed springs the action of uniquely constructed opposed toggels drawn `together toward straightness by a pair `of extension springs as previously explained, producing a maximum thrust when fully extended in contra distinction to the bed springs 31.

In other words, it is possible to substantially balance the resistance of the bed spring which as it is compressed starts at nothing and approaches its maximum stress, by the toggel arrangement just described which has at its maximum thrust when fully extended and when fully compressed it produces practically no thrust at all. So that the weight supporting capacity of my extender can be made substantially constant at all heights, such as up to 9 inches for thick inner-spring mattresses, 6 inches for hair mattresses or 4 inches for thin foam rubber mattresses. y

With this construction it is no longer necessary for a dealer to carry a variety of heights of extenders in stock nor is it necessary for a customer to know or measure the thickness of lier mattress before buying. This also achieves inter-changeability, most essential for travelers.

g This unique construction together with pivotally mounted legs make it possible to ship a double bed mattress extender in a carton 6X3 C 53, or 7l length and girth, in a much more rigidly shaped package than the tlat thin package of my previous design.

Accordingly I claim as my invention:

l. In a bed extender, a rectangular upper element and a rectangular lower element interconnected by a plurality of stabilizing elements made of double faced corrugated paper board material and creased to form three long parallel spaced hinge axes, the rst and last of said creased formed hinges being closely fastened to the upper and lower elements respectively and the middle creased hinge being free for toggle like movement when the upper and lower elements move toward or away from each other, at least one of said stabilizing elements being positioned with its said long axes extending transversely across the rectangular elements and another stabilizing element positioned with its said long axes extending longitudinally of said rectangular element thus tending to maintain the upper element directly over the lower element and resisting longitudinal or transverse misalignment. l I Y 2. In a bed extender, a rectangular upper element and a rectangular lower element aligned one above the other, a plurality of stabilizers to maintain said one-above-the other alignment and to resist lateral movement, made of one piece of generally stiff sheet material creased and thinned for ilexibility to form three spaced parallel hinge axes, the first and third axes being xed to the upper and lower elements respectively and the middle axis being free for toggle like movement, the hinge axes of at least one of said stabilizers being substantially at right angles to the hinge axes of at least one of said other stabilizers.

3. In a bed extender, rectangular upper and lower elements normally aligned one above the other although not necessarily parallel to each other, a plurality of stabilizers to maintain said one-above-the-other alignment by resisting relative lateral movement between said elements, comprising four sections of normally stiff sheet material joined by three intermediate sections of said same material rendered flexible to form three parallel -hinge axes, the rst and fourth stiff sections being firmly aixed to the upper and lower elements respectively, the middle of theintermediate flexible sections being free for a toggle like vlateral movement, at least one of said plurality of stabilizers being `positioned with its axes transversely of and substantially the transverse width of said rectangular element and at least one other of said stabilizers positioned with its axes substantially longitudinally of said elements. Y

4. In a bed extender, rectangular upper and lower elements, normally aligned one above the other, although not necessarily parallel to each other, a pair of stabilizers to resist` transverse misalignment between said elements, each stabilizer comprising four sections of normally stiff sheet material joined by three intermediate sections of the same continuous piece of sheet material and rendered exible to form integrally three parallel hinge axes, the rst andprfourth stiff sectionsbeing firmly fixed to the upper and lower elements respectively and the middle of the three flexible axes being free for a toggle-like double radius movement, lits axis being positioned transversely of and substantially the transverse width of said rectangular elements.

5. In a bed extender, a substantially rectangular upper element and a substantially rectangular lower element aligned one above the other and at least three hinged stabilizersto maintain saidone above the other alignment resisting relative lateral movement of said elements while allowing relative vertical movement thereof, each of said stabilizers being made of at least two sections of stiff material of substantial width and three hinges having long parallel axes in the direction of said substantial width, two of said three hinges being attached to the upper and lower elements respectively as well as to one of said sections, and the third hinge joining said two sections to provide a toggle like action ofjsubstantial width, two of said stabilizers being positioned with their respective parallel hinge axes parallel to each other and at least one of said stabilizers being positioned with its parallel hinge axis at right angles as to the axes of the other two hinges.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 537,768 Harris Apr. 16, 1895 2,484,582 Palsson Oct. l1, 1949 2,602,171 Good July s, 1952 2,607,932 Doyle Aug. 26, 1952 FoRErG'N PATENTS 808,760 France Nov. 24, 1936 ya sgr. 

